Historical Setting And Narrative Structure

10.1163/ej.9789004173859.i-402.13

Brill’s MyBook program is exclusively available on
BrillOnline Books and Journals. Students and scholars affiliated with an
institution that has purchased a Brill E-Book on the BrillOnline platform
automatically have access to the MyBook option for the title(s) acquired by the
Library. Brill MyBook is a print-on-demand paperback copy which is sold at a
favorably uniform low price.

Chapter Summary

This chapter embarks upon decoding the socio-cultural and/or political claims borne by the collection of stories about his ancestors that Aḥima῾az was fortunate enough to retrieve and was anxious to recount to his fellow coreligionists in eleventh-century southern Italy. To further place the text in context, we must now draw a rough picture of the contemporary scene and disclose as many as possible ways in which the medieval mind looked at and represented reality. The first major story recollected by Aḥima῾az is the narrative of the adventures of a Baghdadite scholar named Aharon or Abu Aharon. The second major story remembered by the Jews of southern Italy and recorded by Aḥima῾az is that of Paltiel. The story of Shephatiah is the third major narrative recorded by the Jews of southern Italy. The chapter discusses minor stories that include: story of Silano, story of Sawdan, story of Tophilo.